Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children News

Voices of the Lifestream; 4 discs of remix goodnessIf you ever thought the track "Heart of Anxiety" needed vocals or just wanted a coherent collection of Final Fantasy VII remixes, then OC Remix has answered your prayers. Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifesteam is a four disc collection of some of the best VGM remixers on the web paying tribute to the FFVII soundtrack. Nearly half of the original soundtrack is featured on this monster of an album, including fan favorites such as "Opening - Bombing Mission", "Tifa's Theme", and the ever popular "One-Winged Angel." The release is available as a free download from their website as both a torrent (including WAV and MP3) or as individual tracks. The discs themselves are named for the spin-off titles centered around FFVII, namely "Crisis", "Dirge", "Advent", and "Order." Since the album is being distributed for free, there should be no excuse for not at least giving it a try. Download the Album

Final Fantasy potion in collectible tin can formAbout a year and a half ago, Square Enix graced us with the Final Fantasy Potion, a mixture of fantastic chemicals all summing to a reportedly horrendous taste. The bottle itself was nothing to gawk at, either. Now Square Enix has different ideas: as part of its Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary celebration, beverage maker Suntory will once again join hands with our favorite Final Fantasy overlords to produce...the same exact thing. Only this time the delicious drink has found its way into collectible tin cans featuring Final Fantasy VII character artwork and others bundled with TRADING ARTS mini figures and minutely different art. Do you want to own a piece of history? Behold

Spiral out: Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary GalleryFinal Fantasy VII's 10th anniversary made for some eye-bulging bonuses, as you may remember from some weeks ago. Evidently, these nifty extras weren't enough presents for ten-year-old Final Fantasy VII - a game that is perhaps Square's most popular entry into their staple series. Thus, in addition to the aforementioned extras, Square Enix has plans to roll out a Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Gallery in Spiral (a cornerstone of Tokyo's Aoyama district). Running from August 31 to September 2, the gallery is slated to boast a range of artwork from each Compilation of Final Fantasy VII denizen. In addition to classic artwork in the vein of Tetsuya Nomura's (in)famous character designs, never-before-seen art will also line the gallery, ensuring a visual feast for fanatics. Have your eyes popped out of their sockets? If so, you'll want to start reserving those flight tickets to Tokyo; this gallery certainly isn't traveling to the West. Kotaku

E3 2007 - Square Enix to bring online store statesideIn addition to its E3 lineup announcement, Square Enix has revealed its scheme to open a North American online store. Square Enix, as a self-described "premiere [maker] of high end-collectibles" plans to stock a multitude of "popular and hard-to-find items" including Master Arms, Play Arts, and Mechanical Arts spanning various series, from Final Fantasy to Kingdom Hearts. Clearly, Square Enix has seen that someone, somewhere is making money selling its products. The immediate consequence will likely find many third-party vendors competing for profits with Square Enix itself. The Online Store

American Anime Award goes to computers/clonesThe first annual American Anime Awards gala took place last night in New York City at the New York Comic Con. Over 43,000 fans cast their votes online, resulting in the award for Best Animated Feature going to Square's hour-long computer-generated FMV sequence Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The glorified cut-scene beat out anachronistically nominated Akira and Square-related Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. Alchemist did however manage to pick up an award for best DVD packaging. No joke. The event will be broadcast on the Anime Network on March 23rd. anime_anime.jp

Date set for Advent Children: Less Shitty EditionSony Pictures Home Entertainment will be releasing a limited edition "Collector's Set" of the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children on DVD in North America. Due out February 6th and selling for $49.95, the DVD package promises to be far less shitty than the original feature. Extras.

Square Enix announces Jump Festa LineupThis year's Jump Festa will take place across the 16th and 17th of December. Click on for a full listing of titles to show. But beware: in doing so, one in a thousand readers may suffer cardiac arrest. Full List

Square Enix forces pirate to walk plankIn a recent press release, Square Enix announced their settlement in a piracy case involving Final Fantasy VII:Advent Children and declared their intentions toward increased anti-piracy efforts. On April 17, the company reached a "confidential settlement" with a copyright infringer who uploaded Advent Children in its entirety to Google Video, only to be swiftly discovered and forced into an admission of guilt by Square Enix's persistent legal department. Though it is arguable this poor soul was only attempting to provide a service to parts of the world plagued by the company's long localization times, Square Enix sees things differently. "In connection with [...] Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children," said Yasuhiko Hasegawa, Square Enix's General Manager of Legal Affairs, "we are actively pursuing those who commit intellectual property infringement against our company." Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children releases legally in Europe and North America on April 24 and 25, respectively. Square Enix

Advent Children receives North American screeningTo celebrate the April 25th North American release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Square Enix is hosting a special screening at Los Angeles' Cinerama Dome on the evening of April 3rd. Tickets will be given out at noon of that same day to 800 lucky people who manage to find transportation to this historic marquee. "Key production staff and cast" are also noted to appear, so don't miss this chance to get "up close and personal" with animator number fifteen. Squre Enix

Jessica Alba's boobs. Er, I mean, Advent Children dated for Europe!So says Eurogamer. The DVD & UMD will arrive on April 24th at 30 euros a pop and oh yeah, there are some confirmed voice actors: Mandy Moore will return to give Aeris chords as she did in Kingdom Hearts, some guy called Steve Burton is in for Cloud for the same reason, and they magicked Jessica Alba's tush out of B-rated movie land just for Barret. Well, probably Tifa. But Barret would be all kinds of funny! Eurogamer

Advent Children actually being released in North America eventuallySquare Enix has cemented the publication of a North American version of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children with a recent array of advertisements in gaming publications, including EGM. The advent (bahaha!) of this revelation is perhaps a shock to the gaming community, which undoubtedly believed that the movie would never see international release, considering the 30-month timeframe since its announcement and 19 month lag in initially proposed release. When, precisely the title will see a release has been a debatable topic. Some retailers claim a March, 2006 release, but Amazon.com is most likely the most accurate, citing January 1, 2010 to be the day when lucky Americans and Canadians alike will be able to obtain a legal copy of this most coveted gaming occasion.

Sales of Advent Children reportedly pass 220k in first weekGamefront reports that Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which went on sale in Japan last week, sold around 220.000 copies on DVD in the first week. UMD sales haven't been accounted for, and given the popularity of UMD so far, it's safe to say it probably accounts for a fair chunk of the total as well. So I guess we can go ahead and say Advent Children is a success, right? Aside from the 2.5 million people around the world who already downloaded the rip for free and watched it. That means you! *cough* Gamefront

Advent Children soundtrack prepped for releaseAs recently announced by Square Enix, the two-disc original soundtrack for upcoming DVD/UMD movie Advent Children will find a Japanese release for sale and import on September 28. Following several days after Advent Children's September 13/14 release date, the album will be priced 3000 yen ($27.39 USD). Samples are available as background music on the movie's official websites. Listen

Advent Children set to appear on Japanese silver screenThat's right. The news emerged just recently after the Square Enix Party trailer of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, when Square Enix announced that the movie would be set to appear in theaters across Japan on September 10th, just a few days before its scheduled September 14th DVD and UMD release. Naturally, no such plans have been announced with consideration to North American screenings, probably because of this. Our American readers may now commence pouting.

Advent Children's Japanese UMDFor fans of the PSP in Japan, good news has come their way from Square Enix. With little word up until recently about the UMD release of its upcoming FFVII movie, Advent Children, Square Enix has finally announced a release date, and it's the same as the DVD; September 14th of this year. It will cost the same as the DVD, but there are no plans on a limited edition version. However, the UMD will include battle themes from the soundtrack to Advent Children. Game Spot

E3: Advent Children will release simultaneously in US and Japan; Square Enix to pursue networked gamesA new trailer for Advent Children has been made available (warning: spoilers) which shows just how much crazy action is in this title, which is due out on September 13 in the US and September 14 in Japan on DVD. The trailer is underpinned by a new piece of music: a rock version of One Winged Angel, which sounds similar to the guitar work prevalent in the Black Mages albums recently produced by Uematsu. Additionally, Wada has come forth to state that his desire is for the company to pursue networked gaming, which further underlines the importance of PlayOnline and obviously the suggestions of last week that there may be more to reveal between Square Enix and Nintendo. IGN: Advent Children Trailer

Advent Children coming sometime next year probablyAlthough those with a more pragmatic concept of time would have assumed such long ago, Square Enix has finally confirmed that Final Fantasy VII Advent Children will not be coming out this year. Exactly when in 2005 the movie might see release remains an open question. However, Square Enix's commitment to publish Advent Children on Sony's UMD format (for playback using its upcoming PSP handheld) suggests that it might come sooner rather than later, to back up the PSP's spring release in North America and Europe. 1UP

Cloud shows off mad phone-calling skillz in FOMA commercialJapanese television is currently airing a commercial for the upcoming FOMA P900iV, which you may recognise as the phone that Cloud and Tifa use in the upcoming DVD/UMD movie Advent Children. No doubt Cloud's explicit sporting of the unit will increase its popularity among Japanese teens, though considering its high price one should wonder whether it'll make that much of a difference. commercial download

Stubborn Final Fantasy VII-2 buzz persistsAs reported earlier today, Square Enix has removed from their website all links leading to their old decrepit Final Fantasy VII coverage; some would say to make way for revamped coverage in anticipation for a sequel (form your own assumptions?). In addition, Gamers.com has published an article with a picture depicting a Tokyo Games Show goodie bag with a silhouetted group of The Turks on it, hereby spurring more rumors of a Final Fantasy VII-2 surprise at TGS.

EXCLUSIVE!!! Final Fantasy VII-2 confirmed for PSPSquare Haven user BattleMax has confirmed that Final Fantasy VII-2, the long-rumored sequel to Final Fantasy VII, is indeed in development for the PlayStation Pocket. Sadly, BattleMax did not reveal a release date or any in-game details about the title, however. In related news, Hurricane Isabel has transformed into a gargantuan 300 mile-wide cloud of love that rains nickels and does your Precalculus homework.